Friday, December 28, 2012

Amtrak continues the installation of underground signal and communication cables, the first portion of construction for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Rail Program. This work is required to upgrade signal and communication systems for the NHHS rail corridor and prepare for subsequent track and infrastructure improvements to re-establish Track 2.

During the week of December 31st, excluding holiday observances on December 31st and January 1, 2013, the following installation work at grade crossings is scheduled. Please note that this schedule is approximate and subject to change:

West Hartford: New Britain Avenue – Lane closures for overhead bridge work

There will be occasional traffic interruptions at these grade crossings as the cable installation is progressed. Every effort will be made to limit these disruptions, which should last no longer than fifteen minutes.

Future updates on the status and location of cable installation activities will be provided on the NHHS program website at www.nhhsrail.com and by email. To receive email updates, please register on the NHHS program website.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

WALLINGFORD -A local chemical company was so impressed with the town’s preparedness for Hurricane Sandy that it donated money to several emergency agencies.Evonik Industries, an international corporation with a plant on South Cherry Street, recently gave $5,000 to four local groups: the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Medical Reserve Corps and the emergency department at MidState Medical Center.“These emergency responders played a crucial role in protecting everyone’s safety,” said Peter Stein, site manager at Evonik’s location in town. “Fortunately, we were not affected as bad as the people in New York City.”Fire Chief Peter Struble said his department took numerous precautions to get ready for Sandy, even though damage in town was limited.“Our anticipation was there would be a significant amount of rain,” Struble said. “We were looking at evacuating low-lying areas.”When weather reports shifted and forecasts predicted limited rain but substantial wind, Struble said crews prepared alternate routes to respond to emergencies if roads were blocked.Struble said the department receives donations from several companies in any given year, but this is the first time he can recall a company wanting to donate after a particular event. The funds will go toward training and equipment that will help crews respond to an emergency at Evonik, he said.“It’s a great gesture and we’ll put it to good use,” Struble said.

Stein said the Wallingford site has a good working relationship with the Fire Department. The company co-operates its own fire department with nearby Cytec Industries.

“Corporate citizenship is the cornerstone of Evonik’s operations,” Tom Bates, president of Evonik, said in a statement. “We appreciate the emergency responders’ dedication and commitment to the protection and care of our employeesand neighbors.” Evonik’s Wallingford plant produces specialty plastics used in medical devices, automotive components, marine navigation signals and food and medical packaging.

WALLINGFORD -The zombies, ghouls and goblins that help make up the Trail of Terror may only perform for one month per year, but the money raised from the attraction will benefit the community for the next year and beyond.

More than a dozen local groups will receive portions of the roughly $80,000 raised from this year’s edition of the haunt, according to trailfounder Wayne Barneschi.

The biggest beneficiary this year is Community Revitalization Efforts of Wallingford, a program at the town’s two public high schools that sends students on humanitarian trips across the country. In April, 30 students and 11 chaperones flew to Birmingham, Ala., to work with Habitat For Humanity to rebuild homes destroyed after tornadoes struck the area last year.

CREW received a donation of $12,000 this year.

“Wayne’s generosity is unsurpassed,” said Lyman Hall High School English teacher Jennifer Castelli in an e-mail. Castelli organizes the program at the school. “He has donated more than $50,000 to CREW over the past six years,” she said. “He has provided … the ability to give students from all socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to participate in our trips during April vacations over the past six years.”

Michael Tyrell, a Sheehan High School physical education teacher who runs the CREW program there, said Barneschi deserves recognition for the work he does on the trail each year.

“Wayne makes sure each gift that is given is donated by the volunteers, not just himself, and that is what makes not only the trail so great but also the man who struggles to keep it running, Wayne Barneschi,” Tyrell said in an email.

Other recipients of trail money this year include the North Farms Volunteer Fire Department, Holiday for Giving, the Spirit of Giving and Meriden’s Augusta Curtis Cultural Center and Beat the Street Community Center.

North Farms Fire Chief Tim Wall said the $9,000 his department received will go toward purchasing a thermal imaging camera and to send a youth from the explorer program to spend a week at the state fire academy in Windsor Locks.

“I’ve known Wayne for 40 plus years,” Wall said. “At the time of Christmas and giving, he’s found a way to have fun and turn it around to helping others.”

Barneschi has donated money toward volunteer fire departments in town for the past three years.

Unlike in years past, this year the funding was spread out with smaller donations going to a larger number of groups.

For several years, Barneschi had directed a large amount toward an expansion at the Wallingford Emergency Shelter on Quinnipiac Street.

The Martin B. Rubin Family Center, a two-townhouse unit that offers transitional housing for families that have fallen on hard times, was completed in May with $210,000 of the construction cost coming from Trail of Terror.

A week before Thanksgiving, my neighbor David Gessert called one afternoon and asked me if I was going to be around on Wednesday. He mentioned that he and the neighbors were going to be having a little get together for U.S. Army Sgt. Jeff Sirois who was to be returning to Wallingford after nearly a year in Afghanistan. They were planning to line up along the final leg his travel route and wave the American flag and hold up some signs to welcome him home.

I thanked him for thinking of me and I apologized for being unable to attend. I had recently started a new job which requires me to go into New York City on a daily basis, a change from my previous job which offered me some flexibility for working from home some of the time.

When I think about how much attention in general America pays to which celebrity is cheating on whom and how long Bristol Palin was going to last on "Dancing With the Stars" it made me even more upset that I couldn't make it that day.

As I was thinking of a topic to put together for this final article of mine before Christmas my thoughts went back to this event, a simple little gesture by family, friends and neighbors to welcome home this member of our armed forces from his recent deployment overseas.

We as a nation simply don't celebrate our true heroes nearly enough.

We parade the winning World Series team down the main boulevard of whichever city they hail from for tickertape parades (and more times than I'd like to admit, this is the Canyon of Heroes, the lower section Broadway in the Financial District of New York City).

I read a lot of news stories: nearly everything in the Record Journal and a volume more from newspapers across the country online. Over the course of the year I've read stories about someone who saved animals from a burning animal rescue or another who heard an elderly woman's cries for help and called 911.

Many of these stories called these people "heroes". I absolutely agree that the actions that these people have taken are positively heroic but that is the maximum extent of credit I am willing to give them. You show me a police officer, a firefighter, an EMT, a member of our armed forces that puts their uniform on, pats their children on the head, kisses their spouse good-bye, and who puts themselves in harm's way in an effort to make us safe and to preserve our way of life here in America for all, and I will show you a real hero.

A message is making its way across Facebook - "This Christmas, when you're eating your dinner, smiling and laughing, remember that in another house somewhere, there's an empty chair where a Hero should be sitting. They gave up their life or are presently serving overseas so that you can sit with your family. So light a candle for the Heroes that did not make it home and for those who are still serving."

To my neighbors, the Siroises, whose house I have walked by dozens of times in nicer weather when I go for my walks downtown, thank you.

Jeff - thank you for serving our country and for protecting it.

Jen - thank you for all the support that you offer to Jeff and to your family while he is away.

To the Sirois' children - thank you for your sacrifice of time with your father.

When you take the time to stop and consider this on a finite and personal level, it gives so much more meaning to "land of the free and home of the brave."

To all the heroes - thank you. May you have the best of holidays and may you return home safely.

WALLINGFORD — Hundreds of toys were piled to the ceiling at Gaetano’s Tavern on Main Thursday night, but they’ll soon be in the hands of needy children throughout the area.

Jim Fitzsimmons and Holly Lafond have organized a Toys for Tots donation event for 22 years. And each year people seem to be more generous.

“Every year it gets bigger,” Fitzsimmons said as he scanned the packed restaurant. “I’d like to think it’s not the need, but the people that donate [that] grows.”

Last year the childhood friends collected 3,100 toys, and they expected to surpass that number this year. More than 2,000 toys had been counted even before donations of puzzles, Lego sets, stuffed animals and bikes began rolling in around 5:30 p.m. Fitzsimmons said late Thursday that the duo had collected 3,695 toys, a new high.

Lafond said a couple who wished to remain anonymous heard about the toy drive in the newspaper and donated more than 900 Beanie Babies. Some years, she and Fitzsimmons think about taking a break from hosting the event, but they inevitably get a call from someone asking when it’s going to be held.

“What are we going to tell them?” Lafond said. “That we’re not going to do it?”

Gaetano’s offers free food to people who want to stick around and socialize. Lafond said the event is like a Christmas party and that the whole town is invited. Peter Aron and his wife, Sandra, were stopping by for their first time Thursday night.

“This is a worthy cause, and we’re happy to make a contribution,” Peter Aron said.

The couple said they heard how large the event was, but were still shocked when they walked in and noticed a large wall of toys piled against the front windows of the restaurant. Sandra Aron said her reason for coming was simple.

“No child should be without a gift on Christmas,” she said.

Marine 1st Sgt. Victor Cardenas said it was the first Toys for Tots event he had been to and he was impressed with the community’s generosity. The Marine Corps administers the Toys for Tots program and will help to distribute the toys collected at the Wallingford event.

“The way the economy is, it’s great to see all of these people are still giving,” Cardenas said.

Lafond said she was impressed with the turnout considering how many people have been focusing their efforts on the victims of Hurricane Sandy and more recently the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Though she briefly considered putting off the event because of that tragedy, Lafond said she thinks it has driven more people to come out and do something that benefits children.

“My daughter told me there are still kids that need toys no matter what,” she said.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

(New Haven, CT) — Governor Malloy has signed a proclamation declaring December 21, 2012 a “Day of Mourning” in the State of Connecticut.

The City of New Haven will participate in a state-wide moment of silence at 9:30 AM. The moment of science will then be followed by the ringing of City Hall's bells twenty-six times in honor of each life lost last Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Mayor DeStefano has also set-up a one-time, voluntary payroll deduction for City employees to contribute to charities serving the families of the victims of the tragedy in Newtown. New Haven remains resolute in the effort at both the federal and state levels lobbying for stricter gun laws.

Amtrak continues the installation of underground signal and communication cables, the first portion of construction for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Rail Program. This work is required to upgrade signal and communication systems for the NHHS rail corridor and prepare for subsequent track and infrastructure improvements to re-establish Track 2.

Throughout the weeks of December 24th and 31st, excluding holiday observances on December 24th, 25th and 31st as well as January 1, 2013, the following schedule of installation work at grade crossings will occur. Please note that this schedule is approximate and subject to change:

There will be occasional traffic interruptions at these grade crossings as the cable installation is progressed. Every effort will be made to limit these disruptions, which should last no longer than fifteen minutes.

Future updates on the status and location of cable installation activities will be provided on the NHHS program website at www.nhhsrail.com and by email. To receive email updates, please register on the NHHS program website.

Letter to the editor from DAVID A. ROUTHIER, WALLINGFORD, as published in the Record Journal Thursday December 20, 2012Editor: Since last week’s events in Newtown many of us have offered material contributions in an effort to help. Here is what my family and I will be doing to honor the people of Newtown and to provide them with unmistakable evidence of our support and love. I am asking that all Americans, no matter what their political views or religious beliefs, “rise up with one voice“ to show our love. On Christmas Eve, while we are all together surrounded by our loved ones, my family and I will come outside at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and offer up a candlelight version of “Silent Night” in an effort to share a bit of these most precious of family times with the people of Newtown. I am asking that we all put our differences aside at that exact moment to hopefully make a difference in the tragic lives of the people there. We need to let them know, in the most unified and spiritual of ways, that we are all with them in their time of need. If enough of us join together in song I have no doubt that our collective voices and the light that we shed will reach up to the heavens and embrace its newest angels. Please join us. Often the most powerful of statements can be made by the smallest of actions. I already have groups of friends working on this in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Carolina, Florida and Germany. I’m asking you to help us spread the word.DAVID A. ROUTHIER, WALLINGFORD

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

WALLINGFORD - Throughout his 40 years in the town’s public schools, Richard Fitzsimmons touched the lives of thousands of children.

“He was a very good person, very dedicated to the children and he really valued the teachers in his building,” said former School Superintendent Joseph Cirasuolo.

Fitzsimmons died Saturday after a long battle with skin cancer. He was 77.

After beginning his teaching career in 1957, Fitzsimmons moved to Moran Middle School a year later and taught social studies for 13 years. He later got into administration, serving as assistant principal at Robert Earley Middle School and becoming principal of Pond Hill School in 1981. Five years later he was named principal of Rock Hill School, a post he held until his retirement in 1997.

When he retired, Fitzsimmons told the Record-Journal he had mixed emotions.

“I’ll miss the kids and the staff,” he said. “Over the years I’ve been blessed to have wonderful people to work with. They didn’t work for me. We worked together.”

Fitzsimmons’ wife, Deborah, said her husband was a sports enthusiast, coaching football and track and officiating high school and college football and basketball games. He and a group of friends would regularly attend Yale University football games. Deborah Fitzsimmons said it wasn’t uncommon for past students or players to come up to her husband to say hello or share a memory. “He was so proud of them all,” she said. The couple met at Southern Connecticut State College and was married for 55 years.

“He loved all the kids,” Deborah Fitzsimmons said. “He had great staff at every school he was at and great parent support.”

Despite his busy schedule, Richard Fitzsimmons was a fixture at his children’s athletic events, his wife said. His son, James, said his father loved the school system and he only retired after prodding from his wife.

James Fitzsimmons said his children attend Rock Hill School and many of the staff there worked with his father. When he travels around town, he often runs into people who remember his dad.

“He left a legacy,” James Fitzsimmons said. “He was devoted to the town and its kids.”

Carol Mikulski, interim principal of Cook Hill School, worked with Richard Fitzsimmons as a teacher at Rock Hill before she became principal of Highland School in 1990. She said he guided her toward becoming an administrator.

“He was a very nice guy and a very dear friend,” she said. “He was a people person and was very friendly and outgoing. He was well liked by everybody and always there for anything a teacher needed.”

Richard Fitzsimmons began his career quietly, but when he retired from Rock Hill School he was treated like a rock star. Staff planned a surprise send off including a limousine and wild cheering. The library and computer lab were named in his honor.

“I think Mr. Fitzsimmons is nice and very kind,” second-grader Brittany Rosa told the Record-Journal during a December 1997 retirement party for the administrator. “He always comes into our classrooms and we give him hugs and stuff.”

WALLINGFORD - Richard F. Fitzsimmons, ""Fitz,"" 77, of Wallingford, the beloved husband of 55 years to Deborah Bradley Fitzsimmons passed away Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 with his loving family by his side after a long and courageous battle with cancer at the Masonicare Hospice Center.

Fitz was born in New Haven, Dec. 20, 1934, a son of the late Eugene ""Whitey"" Fitzsimmons and Catherine Cannon Fitzsimmons. Fitz received his bachelor's degree at Southern Connecticut State University and furthered his studies at the University of Hartford. He began his 40 year teaching career for the Wallingford Board of Education as an Elementary Physical Education Teacher in 1957. He also coached football at Lyman Hall High School, a year later Fitz moved to the new Moran Middle School, where he taught Social Studies for 13 years. He served as Principal at the Robert Early Middle School, served as Principal at Pond Hill School and later at Rock Hill Elementary School until his retirement in 1997. He enjoyed officiating at high school and college football and basketball games. Most of all, he loved spending time with his family and friends. He was a former member of the Connecticut Teacher of the Year Committee and had been named Wallingford Administrator of the Year. He loved to travel, and spending time at the family residence on Cape Cod. On many Saturdays, Fitz could be found at the Yale Bowl with his friends, and was also an avid Boston Red Sox fan. He was a parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima Church for many years, was a past board member of the Wallingford Credit Union and a member of the Wallingford Lodge of Elks No. 1365.

In addition to his wife, Deborah, he is survived by his daughter, Debra F. Sitter and her husband, Steven T., of Williams Bay, Wis.; his son, James C. Fitzsimmons and his wife, Megan B., of Wallingford; his four grandchildren, Caitlin D. Sitter, Jamie A. Sitter, Colin A. Fitzsimmons and Sean A. Fitzsimmons; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother Gene Fitzsimmons. Richard was very proud of the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren.

His family would like to thank the staff of the Masonicare Hospice Center for their loving care and compassion.

His family will receive relatives and friends in The Wallingford Funeral Home, 809 North Main St. Ext., Tuesday, Dec. 18, from 4 until 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Dec. 19, from The Wallingford Funeral Home at 9 a.m. when the funeral cortege will proceed to Most Holy Trinity Church, where a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Interment will be in St. John Cemetery in Wallingford. In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be sent to the Masonicare Home Health Care and Hospice, 33 North Plains Industrial Road, Wallingford, CT. 06492 or the Wallingford Senior Center, 238 Washington Street, Wallingford, CT. 06492.

WALLINGFORD - It’s been more than a week since the Wallingford Housing Authority’s board of commissioners received a resignation letter from its management company, and board members say they’re still very early in the transition process.

Board member Nicholas Lombardi said last week that the board was still planning a meeting with DeMarco Management Corp. to discuss the departure.

“We’re going to ask her for the opportunity to sit down and talk about it,” Lombardi said, referring to DeMarco Management representative Maria De-Marco. “Tell us why you have chosen to resign and to get some information.”

DeMarco sent a letter dated Nov. 30 to the board that stated without explicit reason that the firm would be severing its ties with the authority in 60 days, on Jan. 31, 2013.

Reached Friday, DeMarco did not elaborate on her reasons for leaving, but said, “It’s a personal decision.”

“I’ve loved the assignment, it’s been great. I think we’ve done a great job,” she said.

Leaving Jan. 31, 2013, would give De-Marco a full year of running the authority, after taking the helm Feb. 1, 2012.

The company, based in Hartford, manages about 80 other properties throughout the state. The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority recommended De-Marco to the Housing Authority last year to quickly fill the hole left by the retirement of Stephen Nere as executive director in December 2011 and the departure soon after of much of his staff.

In May, the board voted unanimously to renew the DeMarco company’s initial six-month contract for another year, which meant the company was expected to run the authority until June 30, 2013. But the contract stated that either party could end the relationship with 60 days’ written notice.

The authority manages 317 units, including low- and moderate-income and elderly and handicapped housing, on an annual budget of about $1.5 million.

DeMarco was to be paid about 5 percent of each month’s rental income. The company managed day-to-day operations at the authority, including collecting rent, marketing units, tending to tenant concerns and managing the authority’s finances.

As for what could come next for the authority, board members said it’s still too soon to talk about whether they’ll be looking for another management company or another executive director, or whether they will put a bid out for both.

“We’re looking at our options right now,” Lombardi said.

Following Nere’s retirement after allegations of mismanagement in 2011, the board voted, after months of debate, to consider hiring a management company to run its seven properties. It also simultaneously worked out a job description and advertisement for another executive director, before ultimately hiring De-Marco Management.

Board member Thomas Mezzei said he doesn’t have a preference for which type of management he’d like to see at the authority.

“Depends on what comes in — but time is of the essence, the 31st is not that far off,” Mezzei said. He said he is waiting for a meeting to be called to discuss the issue.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

TODAY Saturday, December 15th from 9:00 – 10:00 AM, Superintendent Dr. Salvatore Menzo will be available in the Sheehan Auditorium to answer any questions parents may have regarding safety or security procedures.

On Monday, December 17th, counselors will be available to provide support to students or staff, if needed.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Amtrak continues the installation of underground signal and communication cables, the first portion of construction for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Rail Program.

This work is required to upgrade signal and communication systems for the NHHS rail corridor and prepare for subsequent track and infrastructure improvements to re-establish Track 2.

For the week of December 17th the following schedule of installation work at grade crossings will occur. Please note that this schedule is approximate and subject to change:

North Haven to Wallingford: Cable installation. No traffic impacts at grade crossings anticipated.

Future updates on the status and location of cable installation activities will be provided on the NHHS program website at www.nhhsrail.com and by email. To receive email updates, please register on the NHHS program website.

Susan Huizenga wanted to use a photo of one of the Mercier family’s famous holiday decorations in a photo package for a segment on the town’s Public Access television channel.

When Linda Mercier told her she couldn’t use it, Huizenga was surprised, because she had always been eager to help.

“That’s when she told me that John had fallen,” said Huizenga, volunteer executive director of the Wallingford Public Access Association.

This will be the first time in more than 20 years that the Merciers’ house at 459 S. Elm St. will not be decorated for Christmas. Over the years, the Merciers have received items to add to their Christmas and Halloween displays from all over the country.

On Nov. 4, Linda Mercier and her husband, John, came home from church. They knew it was supposed to rain so they wanted to take down the big spider web with a human corpse entangled in it. John Mercier went up on a ladder to cut down the web, came down and gave it to Linda.

“I thought he was going to put the ladder back in the garage, then I heard him moving the ladder,” she said, assuming he had seen something else on the roof he wanted to take down.

Then she heard the ladder scraping. The bottom slid out on the pavement toward the road and the ladder came crashing down with John on it. He was unconscious for 10 minutes, bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth, she said.

Linda screamed for help, but no one heard her, so she went into the house to call 911.

She said John lost two liters of blood because he was on Coumadin, a medication used to prevent heart attacks, strokes and blood clots.

John Mercier, who is 60, lost nearly all sight in his one good eye and fractured his eyebrow, eye sockets, nose and wrist. He broke a rib and bruised and tore muscles in his chest, near his heart. He had suffered a heart attack 10 years ago and had a pacemaker and defibrillator installed.

“He fell right on it but it didn’t pull the wires out,” Linda said.

He bruised his brain and the doctor said it would take six months to a year for the blood to fully reabsorb. Now he has to relearn how to walk, Linda said. He is expected to be in rehabilitation at the Village Green nursing home until February. Linda said he is talking and remembers people in his life, but doesn’t remember the fall.

Huizenga asked Linda if she could try to lift John’s spirits, and she’s gotten some help. An avid viewer knitted afghans for the Merciers. Children in WPAA-TV’s Pen Pals program made a collage depicting the Merciers’ house filled with Christmas decorations, and cars driving past.

“When I showed it to Linda, her eyes opened up with wonder,” Huizenga said. “‘That’s our house,’ she said.”

Huizenga will also have the Wallingford Chorus sing for the Merciers on a video that will air on WPAA from next Wednesday through the holiday season from 5 to 6:15 p.m. The video was being edited on Wednesday using footage from a documentary about the Merciers’ home. Huizenga plans to drop off a copy to Linda this weekend.

The documentary, by Peter Conforti and Spencer Burnham, covered the last time the Merciers decorated, for this past Halloween.

“As long as the Lord lets us, I’ll keep doing it,” John Mercier said in the documentary.

Linda said the video is a wonderful idea and that she appreciated people being so supportive. It has gone a long way toward helping John recover. She said they may be able to decorate her enclosed porch in the back of the house next year, but the bigger, more elaborate decorations would be too much work.

WPAA-TV is calling on the community to send cards to the Merciers. They can be sent to either WPAA-TV at 28 S. Orchard St. or directly to the Mercier family at 459 S. Elm St., Wallingford, CT 06492.

Photo by Christopher Zajac courtesy of the Record-JournalA sign in front of John and Linda Mercier’s house in Wallingford tells passersby why there won’t be any holiday displays this year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mercier house and yard decked out for Christmas on Dec. 9, 2009.

File photo courtesy of the Record-Journal

File photo courtesy of the Record-Journal

Linda and John Mercier decorate their home for Christmas last year. A bad fall while taking down Halloween decorations this year has put John out of commission.

Amtrak continues the installation of underground signal and communication cables, the first portion of construction for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Rail Program. This work is required to upgrade signal and communication systems for the NHHS rail corridor and prepare for subsequent track and infrastructure improvements to re-establish Track 2.

Throughout the weeks of December 10th and 17th, the following schedule of installation work at grade crossings will occur. Please note that this schedule is approximate and subject to change:

Newington: no streets affected

West Hartford: Flatbush Avenue

Hartford: Hamilton Street

There will be occasional traffic interruptions at these grade crossings as the cable installation is progressed. Every effort will be made to limit these disruptions, which should last no longer than fifteen minutes. Future updates on the status and location of cable installation activities will be provided on the NHHS program website at www.nhhsrail.com and by email. To receive email updates, please register on the NHHS program website.

WALLINGFORD - The Housing Authority’s property management company has resigned.

In a letter to the authority’s Board of Commissioners dated Nov. 30, DeMarco Management Co. representative Maria DeMarco said the company would be dissolving its relationship with the authority in 60 days, on Jan. 31, 2013. She offered no explicit reason for the departure.

“I feel it is in the best interest of the Wallingford Housing Authority to move forward with a new management approach,” DeMarco said in the letter. “Please rest assured that we will work with you to effect a smooth and professional transition.”

The letter was copied to the authority’s attorneys, representatives of the state Department of Economic and Community Development and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

“It has been a pleasure working with the Authority, the residents and the greater Wallingford community,” De-Marco said in the letter. She did not return a call to her cell phone Wednesday afternoon.

Reached by phone Wednesday evening, board president Michael Misiti said the authority will set up a meeting next week to figure out what comes next.

“We have some ideas of what to do short term until we find somebody,” Misiti said. “We have a great staff of attorneys that will get us through it again.”

The chairman wouldn’t get into specifics about the transition plans or the departure, because the plans were being developed and he hadn’t spoken with DeMarco since receiving the letter. He said he felt the issue revolved around “a breakdown of some communication” and said the board did not believe the company had mismanaged funds or anything of that nature.

The management company took over the day-to-day operations of the authority in February after the previous director and staff left amid allegations of mismanagement.

The transition seemed to be running smoothly, although an authority meeting about a month ago revealed friction between the maintenance staff, the board and DeMarco’s firm. That friction seemed to have abated as of a meeting on Nov. 29. At that meeting, Wharton Brook resident Wendy Liseo brought up the contentious tone of the previous meeting during a public comment session, and DeMarco told her, “Wendy, we’re working things out.“ The resignation letter was dated the next day, Nov. 30.

Misiti acknowledged that there had been a strain in the relationship between the company and the board, but said he was still surprised to see the letter on Monday, when he received it via email. “We were working through it — what happened from Thursday to Friday, I can’t answer that,” Misiti said. “I want to make it clear that it was her decision and none of us pushed her out.”

Commissioner Bob Wiedenmann said after a lengthy bylaws meeting and executive session Wednesday morning that he had not yet seen a signed resignation letter. He said that if it were official, “it would be disappointing that we have to take a couple steps backwards,” but that “we’ve gone through the transition once — whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” DeMarco was not at that meeting, though company representatives were.

DeMarco Management’s contract with the authority allows either party to terminate the agreement with 60 days’ written notice.

Tenants who were at the meeting had heard rumors of the departure and were disappointed by DeMarco’s move.

“It’s the tenants’ loss, completely,” Liseo said. “Even at the front desk it has been so much different. I feel that I have been respected and treated with dignity by every one of her staff.”

The rumor of the departure attracted three town councilors to Wednesday’s special meeting, including Vincent Cervoni, a Republican, and Democrats Nicholas Economopoulos and John Sullivan.

Economopoulos, who was instrumental in the departure of the previous director and staff, said he was dismayed by the loss of DeMarco.

“They’re the No. 1 management company in the state,” Economopoulos said. “It will be Wallingford’s loss.”

WALLINGFORD - The Wallingford Housing Authority is implementing new measures to speed the process of preparing vacant units to be rented, the property manager said at a board of commissioners meeting Thursday night. The evening was markedly calmer than last month’s heated gathering.

“If we don’t get these vacancies down to an acceptable level, your financial picture won’t improve,” Maria DeMarco told the board.

The maintenance staff is now aiming to turn over a vacated unit in two weeks.

DeMarco told the commissioners that the staff was handling non-emergency work orders only two days a week — Tuesdays and Thursdays — so that workers can focus undisturbed on repairing units on the other days. Outside contractors are also being considered.

Authority staff will be repairing units just to government standards instead of performing major overhauls. The authority had been doing asbestos abatement in units that needed it when they became vacant, and DeMarco said that and other major repairs now would not be done unless required.

“We’re looking at meeting the housing quality standards, period, instead of looking at it as ‘This will be our only chance to renovate this unit,’ ” DeMarco said.

Tenants and board members asked if the less ambitious renovations would be shoddy or end up causing staff to continually make repair calls. De-Marco assured that the housing would be at a government-standard level.

“The point is not to make the housing stock less marketable, less appealing, less safe and sanitary,” DeMarco said. “What standard it must meet — that, we’re always going to meet. We’re never going to do less than that.”

The current number of vacancies is 22, according to the manager, down from September’s 24. Four of those units are ready to be leased; the others require maintenance.

DeMarco also reported that the authority’s efficiency units were leasing well, something councilors had asked about earlier in the year.

The Thursday night meeting was back to business as usual for the board, following friction last month over what appeared to be an issue among the management company, existing maintenance staff and the board. None of the parties would comment on the nature on the dispute.

At that meeting DeMarco asked for a separate meeting with the board to discuss how effective her company is at the authority.

Wharton Brook resident Wendy Liseo asked Thursday night if the special meeting had been held and the issues had been resolved. She was worried that the management company, hired in February to replace administrators accused of mismanagement, would leave and there would be a transition to another company.

“I’d like to know, because if so, I’m not going to stay here,” Liseo said.

The meeting has not yet happened, according to board President Michael Misiti, but DeMarco told Liseo, “Wendy, we’re working things out.”

“That’s what I want to hear. I really like all of you,” Liseo said, including the board.

I decided to do a separate blog for "all things" Wallingford that really do not fit to any of my other "Wallingford" based blogsI already do a lot of posting directly to the Wallingford CT Community Forumpage over on Facebook which lately has been “the” catch all for conversations regarding topics about the town. The issue there is that once the item drops down in the thread you tend to lose it where here on the Blog you'll have the ability to search the blog for keywords. That and you have to have a Facebook account. I realize that's over a billion people but there are a few that do not use it regularly.

From time to time I add the content to one of my other blogs which are either my personal thoughts, From the Mind of Jason Zandri or the general politics of Wallingford at Wallingford Politico. Once in a while and when it is directly relative to what might be a Town Council concern I would have the information over on my Wallingford Town Councilor blog but there are certain stories, news, “goings on” that just don’t fit any of the blogs in particular so I decided to start this one (because there was 30 free minutes in my schedule).

What I’d envision for the blog is additional input and submission from town residents; this can be a nice central hub for fundraisers, general announcements, general notices and so forth – just drop me a note with your post request and I will do my best to get it up and online all in one central location as time permits.

When sending me an email at JASON@ZANDRI.NET please indicate a meaningful subject line so that the spam filter doesn’t swallow it.

I hope people become interested and part of the process – many hands make light work and personal engagement and investment is especially fulfilling

About Me

I have been working in the information technology field in one form or the other since 1996. I am currently employed full time at Tallan, Inc. as a Senior Cloud Infrastructure Consultant. I live in Wallingford Connecticut, which is my hometown where I have lived my whole life.

I am married to my wife Renata and a father to four children, three boys - 12 years, 8 years and 7 years old, and one girl aged 10 (by the end of 2016).

I have a passion for technology and I clearly do not sleep much.

I’m always looking for input so drop me a note and let me know what you’d like to see.